Epilogue
EPILOGUE
brIAR
“We’re going to Sadie’s place, right?”
If we are, we’ve gone the wrong way.
I didn’t say anything when Dash took the wrong turn a few minutes ago because I assumed he’d made a mistake, but we’re so far away now there’s no way he’s getting back on track without pulling a U-turn.
“We’re taking a detour first,” he says, winking at me in the rear-view mirror.
Jasper continues the soft stroking of his thumb over my knee while Landon sends off a text to the Riptides’ coach, confirming that they’ll be back at practice tonight.
I almost forgot that they have actual jobs they need to go back to now that my heat’s over and life can return to normal.
A new normal for the next chapter of our story.
“A detour where? We’re close to the clinic now,” I say.
Ronan rolls down his window and drops his arm out of it.
“I told you we should have blindfolded her.”
“Uh, no. Let’s not blindfold Briar,” I argue.
Dash jabs a finger into Ronan’s bicep.
“See? Told you she wouldn’t have appreciated that.”
“Why would you have blindfolded me, anyway? You’re allowed to go to the clinic. Did Clover ask one of you to grab something before we go to Sadie’s?”
“No. And I’m not telling you anything yet,” Dash says.
Jasper chuckles softly.
“Are you getting nervous, Dash?”
“Stop trying to spoil my surprise!”
“What surprise?” I ask, leaning forward toward the break between the front seats.
“Is it at the clinic?”
Dash huffs and flicks on his turn signal.
“You’re all on my shit list.”
We turn into the clinic parking lot, and Dash parks in the first stall.
It’s empty besides us.
Not even Duke is here doing his usual creepy walk around the building on the days we’re closed.
“So, nobody is going to give me a hint as to why we’re here, then?” I ask, already unbuckling my seat belt.
Dash turns in his seat and points his fingers at the guys.
“No. And if anyone says anything else, I’m going to start punching balls.”
Jasper flinches.
“Sounds good.”
Landon gets out first, so I dive after him, excitement buzzing beneath my skin once my feet hit the pavement.
I haven’t been here in a week, which only ever happens during my heats.
My return today is different.
It’s the first time I’ve come back without lingering muscle aches and a cramp in my chest reminding me that I spent another one alone.
As I walk up to the front doors today, I’ve got my four packmates beside me and flesh decorated with mating marks.
I’m happy, my heart full.
Dash jogs ahead of us with a set of keys jiggling in his hand.
He uses the one I know opens the clinic doors to do just that.
“Did Clover give you her keys?” I ask.
Dash pulls over the door and holds it open.
His eyes crinkle at the corners.
“No, I stole them.”
I dig my elbow into his side before passing him, stepping into the clinic.
It’s dim with the lights off, and I immediately go to the light switch.
Ronan blocks my way.
“No can do, Petal.”
“Why not? You want to stand in the dark?”
“You don’t make it easy to surprise you,” Dash teases.
I laugh, turning my back to Ronan.
“It’s looking more like you wanted to take me somewhere to kill me off than it does you surprising me.”
“Ouch! Do you really think I’d be capable of killing you off? Don’t you know how much I love you?”
Dash is in front of me in a blink, his scent invading my senses.
I breathe him in greedily, bliss rolling through me.
He dips his head until our noses touch.
“Have you not ever heard of a crime of passion?” I murmur.
“The only crime of passion I want to commit is one that I probably shouldn’t talk about in your place of work.”
I flick my eyes side to side before focusing back on him.
“I don’t see any of my colleagues or patients.”
“Now, this is just cruel. Maybe instead of Bright Eyes, I should have called you Wicked.”
“You’re a flirt,” I say with a nip to his nose.
He runs his fingers along the back of my ear.
“And you’re mine.”
A smooth talker too .
“Do you remember the conversation we had in the parking lot before we went nest shopping?” he asks.
“About the clinic?”
“Mm, and how hard you’ve tried to make the rooms warm and inviting instead of cold like at a hospital.”
“I didn’t think you’d remember that.”
“I remember everything you’ve ever said to me.”
My pulse skips.
“So, you took me here to remind me of that?”
“Almost. I took you here to show you something.”
Feet scuff the floor behind me, and then Dash is turning me around.
It’s the second time today I’ve had the breath knocked out of me.
“What is all of that?” I whisper.
“It’s stuff that I hope you can use here. Not just in the rooms but here in the reception and to stock up wherever you keep your feminine products,” Dash explains, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.
I blink and blink and blink, not believing what I’m seeing.
“Did you buy all of this?”
“And give you a chance to make me return it all? No chance. Everything here was donated.”
“What?”
There’s so much stuff here that I can’t even begin to categorize it all, from blankets, towels, slippers, and boxes of brand-new pads and bottles of water.
“I put a call out to a few of the businesses that the Riptides have active sponsorships with and reached out to a few via email since our conversation. They were all more than happy to help donate to Harbour of Hope. Everything here was gifted.”
A burn sears my eyes as I bring a hand to my throat, pressing it against the thump of my heartbeat.
My inhales are quick, uneven.
“What you do here matters to Rayton, Briar. Your career is a pivotal piece of who you are as a person, and I want to make sure you know that we’d never consider taking that from you for even a second. Instead, we want to see you thrive here. And if a few dozen donations from companies helps with that, then I’m more than happy to do that for you,” he says, gently guiding me back to look at him.
“I wasn’t sure whether betas felt the same about courting as alphas did. So, all of this? It’s beyond my expectations,” I admit, almost shyly.
“I might not be an alpha, but that isn’t going to stop me from courting you, Bright Eyes,” he teases.
Landon’s looking at me already when I bring my eyes to his.
“I’ve never felt luckier than I do with all of you.”
Landon offers me a smile that’s not so rare anymore.
“We’re pack.”
Yeah, we are.
Sadie sits in a big yellow chair, rocking the baby bundled in her arms. I tuck my leg beneath me on the couch across from her and watch the two of them.
The soft grunting noises her daughter makes as she sleeps are one of my favourite things about newborns.
“You’re a natural, Sadie,” I say, keeping my voice soft.
She looks up from her daughter, the exhaustion she’s feeling written over every inch of her face.
Still, she doesn’t let that dull her smile.
“Yeah? I feel like I’ve already done a million things wrong, and I’ve only been home with her for three days.”
“I’d love to meet one new mom who hasn’t felt that way. The day I have kids, I’m positive I’ll forget everything I’ve learned.”
“Do you see that day happening sometime soon?” she asks.
I blush, my chest lurching.
There’s a sliver of doubt there, but it’s immediately wiped away when I feel Jasper’s answering reassurance.
He doesn’t even know why I’m doubting, but there he is, putting an end to it before it can fester.
“Maybe not soon. But someday. I’d love a big family.”
Sadie lowers her eyes back to her daughter.
“You’d fit a big family. You’ve got the heart for it.”
I blush, nodding in thanks.
“Let’s focus on you, though. I want to make sure you know that you have a support system here for you to use anytime you need to. Whether that’s a question about something, even something you think isn’t important, or need a break, all you have to do is call either me or Clover. Our care doesn’t suddenly stop the moment you leave with your baby.”
She presses her lips together, emotion rolling through her stare.
“That’s what Duke said too.”
“Duke?” I hide my surprise behind curiosity.
“Yeah. He’s stopped by the last few days. Checking in on things with Thorne and Calla. I think he was actually scared to meet her, but she seems to actually like him more than me sometimes.”
My stomach tightens.
“How have things been with Thorne? Do you have any updates?”
She wets her lips, anger flashing.
“He was arrested the day I gave birth and is being held without bail. I don’t think we’ll have any other updates until a court date is set, whenever that is.”
“That’s good news, right? At least he won’t be able to try anything else again.”
And with Duke hanging around, it would be incredibly stupid for him to come close to her again.
As long as Duke knows what he’s doing being here to begin with.
I’ve never known him to make reckless decisions, so he has to.
Right?
“I think so. Maybe. It’s going to take me some time to stop wondering when he’ll start showing up again. Even if he does end up in prison, I’m not sure I’ll ever stop looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to pop up.”
“I can’t begin to understand what that feels like.”
She continues her steady rocking, but her eyes lift from Calla, focusing on me.
“I never apologized for Thorne breaking into your apartment. And for getting you involved in the first place the night he showed up at my place.”
“Don’t apologize for that. Don’t carry his actions on your back, Sadie. You need to focus on your life and the gorgeous baby girl in your arms right now. Nothing else matters.”
She nods, but I can see the war raging in her eyes.
The inner battle of whether she should agree with me or keep pushing because the guilt hasn’t just vanished like we wish it would.
It’s going to be there for a while.
That’s just how guilt works, even the kind that we shouldn’t have at all.
“I’m working on that,” she says.
“And if there’s anything you need while you are?—”
She finishes my statement with a quirk of her lips.
“Call you.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you want to hold her?”
My excitement is instant.
“Can I?”
“You and Clover are currently two of the three people in the world I trust to.”
“Then, I’d be honoured.”
She nods once before trying to stand.
Her wince has me hopping off the couch and rushing toward her.
“Stay seated, Sadie. You have stitches in places no woman should ever have stitches. Let me do the lifting right now.”
“I have been moving around on my own for a few days now,” she pokes but doesn’t argue further when I sweep Calla out of her arms and into mine.
“And I wish you didn’t have to. Just let me help while I’m here. Then you can go back to being supermom again.”
“Supermom,” she echoes, laughing lightly.
“You flatter me.”
Calla coos, her tiny face scrunched in sleep.
The soft yellow blanket she’s bundled up in is the same one we wrapped her in at the clinic.
Her name is stitched on the upper-right corner, done by the same older woman who’s been doing all of our Harbour of Hope babies blankets since we opened.
Her hair is a blonde so light it’s almost white and so thin she could pass as bald.
It’s adorable, and with her brown eyes, she looks just like her mom.
I rock her gently, rubbing the palm of my hand up and down the small length of her back.
There’s a yearning sensation in my chest. A pull as I inhale the soft scent of her skin and get bursts of the future.
A heartbeat later, there’s a knock on the wall behind us.
“We finished the lawn. It shouldn’t need to be mowed again in a couple of weeks, but once it’s too long, you can just give us a call. Fall’s coming soon, so it could very well stay short until the spring,” Jasper says.
I spin to face the small archway leading to the front door and smile at him.
“Did you get the weeds pulled in the flower beds?”
“Is that what’s kept you all outside for so long? Doing my outdoor chores?” Sadie asks, halfway between laughing and crying.
Jasper offers her a tip of his chin before his stare falls on me, growing heavier the longer he watches me rock the newborn.
There’s a tug on the longing I feel, like someone’s there plucking at the end of the thread.
When he answers Sadie, he’s still looking at me.
“You shouldn’t need to worry about chores at all right now.”
“Well, I appreciate the help,” she replies.
“Any friend of Briar’s is a friend of ours.”
“Stop bothering them, Jas. There’s an entire section of the yard that’s covered in ant hills. That’s not good for a baby, is it? What if one crawls into her shoes and up her legs?”
Dash’s questions ripple through the living room, sending me into a giggle fit.
Jasper rolls his eyes, lifting his stare long enough that I can slip mine to our worrisome beta.
He’s half-naked and gleaming with sweat when he steps into view.
My eyes widen, heat sweltering in my belly as I focus on keeping them from crossing.
Sweaty abs are cruel, wicked things.
Brows lifting, he gawks at me.
“Oh, we’re so getting you pregnant.”
“Dash!” Landon blurts out.
I strain with a laugh, trying my best not to let it out and risk waking Calla.
Landon and Ronan follow Dash, stumbling into the living room, equally as sweaty as the other two.
They’re careful not to go too far in, and I appreciate it more than they know.
“What’s going on in here?” Landon asks Dash.
Dash nudges his head in my direction.
“Look at Briar.”
The only sound in the place comes from Calla as she snores.
Then, a thick swallow.
Landon grips his waist in a hold so tight I’ll be checking for bruises in the shapes of his fingertips later.
“You’re holding a baby.”
“I am,” I reply, mouth twitching with the need to smile.
Sadie clears her throat quietly, no doubt hiding a laugh.
“She’ll make a great mother of her own one day.”
Ronan’s eyes are dark, more black than brown as he rasps, “You’re right.”
“How about let’s focus on making sure we can help out the only actual mother first,” I say, cheeks pulsing with a blush.
The last thing I want to do here is perfume in the middle of Sadie’s living room, and we’ll be on a quick trip to Fucking Land if they don’t stop looking at me like they want to get me pregnant right here, right now.
Even if the idea of that doesn’t sound so far away anymore.
Landon’s the last to look away.
His lingering stare betrays everything he’s thinking.
Someday, Briar. I promise.